Friends and Liars

From "edge-of-your-seat suspense" (Booklist) author Kit Frick comes an insidious thriller about four estranged friends trapped in a powerful family's deadly games at a luxe estate in the Italian countryside.

It's been five years since heiress Clare Monroe tragically died on New Year's Eve at her family's opulent Italian palazzo. Since that time, her college friends have harbored a dark secret--their lies and betrayals led to Clare's untimely death.

What happened that fateful night was a horrible accident, but Luca, Harper, Sirina, and David are guilty, nonetheless. And their desperate decision to conceal the truth destroyed their once-close bond.

Now, the estranged friends are each the recipient of an invitation from the Monroes to return to the lakeside palazzo for a long-overdue memorial for Clare. Accepting the Monroes' invitation means playing with fire, but they can hardly refuse.

Luca, Harper, Sirina, and David have barely settled into their idyllic accommodations on Lake Como before someone at the memorial party begins targeting them. Haunted by little "gifts" left in their rooms, taunting notes, and the unshakable sense of being watched, it soon becomes clear that someone on the guest list knows the whole truth about the night Clare died--and the secrets her friends have been keeping. Nothing is as it seems at the palazzo on the lake, and under their tormentor's vengeful gaze, their secrets--and their lives--are in danger.

Author: Kit Frick
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 12/02/2025
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.46lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.43w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9781668022535


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 10/01/2025 pg. 76
Booklist 10/01/2025
Shelf Awareness 10/03/2025
Publishers Weekly 10/13/2025
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2025

About the Author
Kit Frick is a MacDowell Fellow and International Thriller Writers Award finalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. She is the author of the adult suspense novels The Split and Friends and Liars, the young adult thrillers Before We Were Sorry (originally published as See All the Stars), All Eyes on Us, I Killed Zoe Spanos, Very Bad People, and The Reunion, and the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs. Kit loves a good mystery but has only ever killed her characters. Honest. Visit Kit online at KitFrick.com and on Instagram @KitFrick.